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This holiday season, you’ll likely be asked if you can help an organization (or several) with a donation. Thing is, nonprofits like SNKC rely on people like you to keep the mission going. It’s the reality of our world. But – and this is a biggie – SNKC is fairly unique in this space because...

When I walk in it’s absolute chaos. It can’t be helped though. Vanessa’s house is not a big place so when Maggie and Bella – each one large enough to hog an entire loveseat alone – get moving, they cover ALL the territory very quickly. “Maggie looks like a Twinkie,” Vanessa chuckles. I’d have to...

Sometimes, in this “business,” you just have to sit down by yourself and feel the hurt pressing down on your chest like a heavy boot. There are good days, though. More than you’d think, really. The kind that bring tears of a different kind and remind you why you do this in the first place....

You might not think Lucky is actually that lucky. Then again, this is really more about what’s being preserved versus what’s been lost. It’s about friends, and keeping family together, saving the relationship even though things have to change — maybe even dramatically — to do it. And if those are your measures, Lucky has...

Necole has a full house. Five kids, ages 3 months to 15 years. And then there are the four dogs, including two puppies. It gets crazy, she admits. But to her way of thinking, at a certain point the chaos couldn’t get much more… chaotic. “Life is already crazy enough with five kids,” she jokes,...

This is a story about perspective. It’s about loss and pain and struggle. But what stands out is that it’s also a story about unconditional love. And that friendship really matters. What doesn’t matter is how many legs those friends happen to have. … I first met John sitting in our waiting room. Ramona, our...

Nine a.m. arrives relatively quietly on this Wednesday. Surgery check-in goes until 8:30, and there aren’t too many people running late, so we’re actually a little quiet in the waiting area. One man is already waiting, though. James has two pups, Finnley and Veda, and he’s an eager pup dad, not super familiar with puppies...

After Gary lost his last dog, Frank, he wasn’t in a place to even think about getting another dog. In fact, he thinks Frank’s passing is why he had a stroke on the same day. There was no way he was going through that again, he thought. Enter Bear Gary is a disabled veteran. That’s...

Our doors unlock at 7:30, but the staff is here by 7. Lights get turned on as the prep tasks take staff to different areas of the clinic: surgery, the dog and cat rooms, the waiting area. Supplies and paperwork are checked and double-checked, because once those doors open, you might not get another chance....

I have two dogs of questionable character. One is now a 10-year-old cattle dog mix. The other, an 8-year-old Border Collie mix. Despite their advanced dog years, they have two speeds: turbocharged and faster. Hard, hour-long walks barely put a dent in their desire to go, go, go. When the weather turns (and I don’t...